art of experiential design

RED BOX
Kia Motors

Birmingham, UK

SUMMARY

Kia updated their brand and car showrooms, so a conference was held for European partners to present the new look. We designed a virtual showroom, able to take on the challenge of live transformation, as the set constantly changed and renewed during key moments in the conference. We designed 15 new shifts in the set to accompany new cars, different speakers, and various brand messages.

DETAIL

We were asked by Laing Gale and Associates to create an animated stage set for Kia’s yearly conference. We took the idea of transforming the car dealerships literally and created many interchanging backdrops for the minimal set. The notion of transformation and change was clear with a complete set transformation every 10 minutes.

We used a typical image of a car dealership as a starting point: a fairly anonymous, corrugated grey steel architecture. We then communicated that Kia could break through this lacklustre state using the same design thought and process that is used to build their cars. Robotic pneumatic arms reached and punched through the set removing the grey corrugated sections and flipping/replacing them with bold, glossy red panels. An appropriately rousing soundtrack and sound effects heighten the experience. The four older Kia models drive on stage right and finally, we revealed the new Red Box concept.